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Book of Equanimity Case 25

How could we discuss
This and that
Without knowing
The whole world is
reflected In a single pearl

This verse from Ryokan and translated by Kaz Tanahashi provides the best way to enter this case.

The teacher or if you prefer, life itself, always asks us to present, display, show our realization- being rather than talk about it.

When Enkan asks his student to fetch the Rhinoceros- horn fan, he is asking for the instantaneous presentation of the field of realization- being. The attendant displays humbly his inadequacy, his lack of ability, the fan, it as well as he ...are broken. Then, Enkan leaps further, asking for the real thing, the rhinoceros itself.

Here the attendant is totally fooled by his own idea of the Dharma..."I have to display the real thing, I as a person, should be able to get that and present it to the teacher." What Ensan is teaching is so profound and radical, he is implying that no matter who you are, how inadequate you are, the real thing can still be displayed. Even better, a broken fan is the way to manifest the real thing. How come?

In a famous chapter of Shobogenzo, only a Buddha and a Buddha, Dogen starts saying: "Buddha Dharma cannot be known by a person" please, read this chapter and you will understand that only birds can read the traces of birds, that to follow the way, the person has to disappear, the fan has to be thrown away. It is very much like in my pet- poem from Li Po:

The birds have vanished into the sky,
and now the last cloud drains away.

We sit together, the mountain and me,
until only the mountain remains.

This is the real meaning of the appreciatory verse, the ox within the moon- circle is prior to everything else. Please read the Ten Oxherding pictures, or listen to my stupid talks:

How do you throw away the fan? Because as long as there is a person to throw away something, the fan is still there. How do I throw away the fan without hands and head?

Thank you for your patience

Gassho

Taigu

I am not my story. I am not the self that I tell myself that I am. I am not the sum of my career, marriage status, number of children, etc. Only change is unchanging, I think. Any idea of myself is not fixed and not me. Without me there is no person to throw anything away.

"To study the self is to forget the self."

I study myself best when I don't study myself, when there is nothing to study, during Zazen.

How do you throw away the fan? Because as long as there is a person to throw away something, the fan is still there. How do I throw away the fan without hands and head?

I really love Ryokan; the simplicity of his poetry is so elegant. I have to read it over and over, and I always get something new. Such a free spirit.

I think to throw away the fan, you have to not try to throw away the fan. As Shishin talks about Zen. We are there not to cover up our flaws or try to become like some perfect vulcan, robot practitioner. If we come to zen with those expectations, we are just running from ourselves and grasping at new forms of bullshit in the form of a fantastical, elevated spiritual practice.

Zazen is about paying attention to who we are...all those thoughts, and fears and highs and lows and good and bad emotions that swirl around in us.. to face those things, to truly embrace ourselves, to learn about ourselves. And by doing that and allowing those emotions and thoughts to play out without being played by them, they will eventually fade out by themselves. And then there is a spaciousness that appears. I feel it from time to time during zazen.

Trying to drop the fan would by like trying to put out a fire by fanning the flames.

Ultimately there is no fan, no head, hand and nothing to throw. We know that, have heard this. But echoing it is just being a parrot, talking about it just letting the entertainer appear. The mind is the entertainer. I would put it this way: To truly throw away the fan is to drop thinking, just sitting, just being in this moment, and this, this, this. But maybe thats just another appearance of the entertainer.
Gassho
Myoku

How do you throw away the fan? Because as long as there is a person to throw away something, the fan is still there. How do I throw away the fan without hands and head?

Throwing away the fan is 'when the myriad dharmas actively practice and experience ourselves'. We are practised in our practising, living is lived in through our living. I don't show up!The whole world is reflected
In a single pearl

to follow the way, the person has to disappear, the fan has to be thrown away.

Maybe to follow the way, the person has to let down the guard, show himself openly, all faults exposed, broken pieces shown to the world, without fear.
Maybe to follow the way, the person has to forgive himself, accept that the fan may forever be broken, find the beauty in a broken fan.
Maybe to follow the way, the person has to learn to trust the way, have faith that there is something whole shining through all the broken pieces.
Maybe when the brokenness of the fan is fully accepted, the person gives up trying to throw it away. And instantly disappears, fanned away by grace.
No more way to follow. No need for a way. Already home. Always whole.
Maybe to follow the way, the person has to reappear, mindful of who he is, confident in who he is, not knowing who he is.

Gassho,
Pontus

In a spring outside time, flowers bloom on a withered tree;
you ride a jade elephant backwards, chasing the winged dragon-deer;
now as you hide far beyond innumerable peaks--
the white moon, a cool breeze, the dawn of a fortunate day

The nature of fan is the nature of wind.
The nature of wind is the nature of air.
Air covers the world, fan is gone.
Have a cup of tea.

"Know that the practice of zazen is the complete path of buddha-dharma and nothing can be compared to it....it is not the practice of one or two buddhas but all the buddha ancestors practice this way."
Dogen zenji in Bendowa

Taigu... some confusion on my part. In your saying that the attendant (student) in showing his lack of ability, inadequacy and/or being totally fooled, does not seem to be Wicks take on this Main Case. He says the attendant was no slouch (page 79, third paragraph), by him stating that the horn is broken... ie, it wasn't broken till he brought it up and started talking about it, but that broke It; now its broken.

Does that not also point to the question in the Preface... "Where is the fault?" (any attachment to pain or pleasure)

He ran away because the other monks were jealous that he received Dharma transmission. The senior monastic expected to get transmission and be the next teacher. The teacher held a competition about who could express the dharma best. The senior monk wrote his poem. No other monastics even attempted to compete because they accepted him as their next teacher. In swoops Hui Neng, he writes an even better poem, and he receives the seal. This really pissed off the other monks who regarded him as some illiterate guy just working the grindstone everyday. Anyway I'm paraphrasing quite a bit, but he had to take transmission in secret and get the hell out of dodge basically.

Not what I meant Risho, but thank you . I’m familiar with the story. What I don't understand is why even the 5th Patriarch could not prevent all of this from happening? In the Sutra of Hui Neng we can see he wasn't even a monk, but a low lay servant at the time and had to have contact with the Master in secret. Also that the senior monk got very nervous because all other monks there expected him to deliver big time. In the end a five star general tuned monk caught up with Hui neng in the mountains. Must have been one dangerous place, both for Masters and the unassuming.

Some say the whole story never happened, but is meant as a metaphor and there is a lesson in there. What do you guys think?

Honestly I don't think it matters if it really happened, as long as the teaching shines through. We can never know if anything really happens can we? (sorry for sounding so "zenny")
Gassho, Jakudo

Gassho, Shawn Jakudo Hinton
It all begins when we say, “I”. Everything that follows is illusion.
"Even to speak the word Buddha is dragging in the mud soaking wet; Even to say the word Zen is a total embarrassment."
寂道

I think it points to the danger of greed,anger and ignorance. In one's job, for instance, it can be easy to let ego get in the way. If someone else has an idea that is perceived or really is better, that can perhaps get us very angry. Or if you are passed up for a promotion, then you might get angry or even jealous that someone else got what you feel you deserved. And maybe you did deserve it, but is it worth all of the negativity that would come from exploding over it? The other monk, in this case, was passed up for a promotion that he expected. I guess in the end, it goes to illustrate how even "serene Zen practitioners" are human after all, and practice is ceaseless, as Dogen said. Greed, anger and ignorance are always there for us, reminding us of how important it is to practice.

Those are just a couple of thoughts. Sorry Enkyo, I read the earlier post literally, so I provided a paraphrased story. hahahah

As for the story, I think there probably are several good lessons in it. As I understand, even the great Dogen wrestled with the question why human “mischief” does not vanish or totally disappears after enlightenment? I quite agree it does not really matter if all of it happened or not.

I just like to try and imagine what and how things really happened, because time tends to dip things in *&# (pardon my language ) or in gold Common sense sometimes gives a whole new perspective on things. Like the detail that the monk that made the initial poem, and was expected to become the new Master, never joined the posse that went after Hui Neng. Maybe the guy didn't want to be boss anyway? Makes ya wonder....

Are you familiar with the Sutra of Hui Neng? If not, I really can recommend it, because the man was ( and still is) well known for his common language and straight, simple explanations. The guy was initially a woodcutter, a simple working guy, like the most of us but nevertheless became the 6th patriarch! His way of explaining is very different (still very profound and hard to grasp though) from the deep, intellectual and polished prose of Dogen Zenji. Maybe we should ask to put it on the reading list someday?
Anyway, I just love to talk and exchange ideas about these more practical sort of Zen things with you guys and enjoy your input very much! Thanks m8 .